Noah Donohoe's body was badly contaminated, inquest hears

Noah Donohoe's body was badly contaminated when it was recovered from an underground water tunnel in north Belfast, an inquest has heard.

Trevor Cooke, a PSNI major crime forensics adviser, told the hearing he went to the scene after the 14-year-old's body was found almost a week after he went missing in June 2020.

He explained that search and rescue teams and officers had left the storm drain at that stage due to a rising tide level and the body had been placed above ground.

Cooke said the boy's body was "badly contaminated with dirty water and dirt" and there were "scuff marks" at the boy's knees and elbows.

He explained that a crime scene investigator took nail scrapings and head hair combings.

Cooke told the inquest the pathologist who conducted a post-mortem examination requested a water sample the following day.

He explained he did not seek a water sample on the day Noah's body was found because he was confined to an overground space where Noah's body was placed, and it would not have been safe to go into the storm drain.

"At that time, it wasn't considered," Cooke said.

Emphasising the dangers due to the tide level, he stressed: "We couldn't go in, full stop".

"The important thing was Noah himself."

Cooke also outlined how any water sample taken from the scene would have to be considered against a number of factors including the time difference between when Noah disappeared, at one end of the tunnel, and where his body was found more than 600m away almost a week later.

He said he was aware that Noah had entered the tunnel at a different location, and he believed there were minimal forensic opportunities around the area where the schoolboy's body was recovered.

Cooke also told the jury that his attendance at the scene did not indicate that it was a crime scene.

The inquest has also heard that some aspects of the police search for the schoolboy were hampered by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The hearing has been given details about extensive efforts made by PSNI officers to try to find CCTV footage from various locations across Belfast following the schoolboy's disappearance in June 2020.

Noah had cycled from his home off the Lower Ormeau Road in south Belfast to Northwood Road in north Belfast, where he was last seen alive.

As the police attempted to establish the precise route taken by the 14-year-old, officers contacted various businesses along different routes from the south to the north of the city.

Insp Cuan Bell, who was a duty sergeant on the two days immediately after Noah's disappearance, told the inquest that officers were "very committed" to the search for Noah.

"We wanted to get this right," he said.

Bell explained that some CCTV footage was of "very poor quality".

Meanwhile the police also encountered difficulties in gaining access to other CCTV footage because the search was taking place while many businesses were adhering to restrictions imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Bell outlined how some people who could operate a business CCTV system were not immediately available, while some others were working from home resulting in skeleton staff numbers at certain businesses.

Another police officer has also been giving evidence to the inquest about his role in the PSNI search and investigation.

Det Insp David Kitchen from the PSNI's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) became involved in the case when the CID team took over the investigation three days after Noah's disappearance.

He was tasked with conducting enquiries linked to the collection of CCTV footage.

Kitchen told the inquest that his priority was to try to find CCTV footage which could potentially provide "a second sighting" of Noah, after other CCTV footage had been secured which showed the schoolboy's last known sighting at Northwood Road.

Kitchen was also asked about his knowledge of a CCTV camera at the rear of a house, close to where Noah was last seen.

He explained he was only aware that the householder had provided footage from a camera at the front of the same house.

"I believed there was one camera, and she was showing me footage from that camera," Kitchen said.

He also said he was unaware of any specific requests to check for additional CCTV footage around the area where Noah was seen falling off his bicycle before cycling off and leaving his coat on the pavement.

The coat has never been found.

Kitchen emphasised that he had prioritised his efforts around Linear Park and neighbouring streets in north Belfast because the area was in the immediate vicinity of Noah's last know location.